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Anti-Semitic incidents surge in US: report

Nearly 2,000 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded last year in the US, the Anti-Defamation League found. The Jewish organization said the figures "had been trending in the right direction ... and then something changed."

Anti-Semitic incidents rose 57 percent in the US last year, according to a report published by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday.

The increase marked the largest increase in a single year since the Jewish organization began recording anti-Semitic incidents in 1979.

"It had been trending in the right direction for a long time," ADL chief executive Jonathan A. Greenblatt told The New York Times. "And then something changed."

New York recorded the largest increase, rising by 90 percent. Florida had the largest decrease in anti-Semitic incidents, dropping 28 percent year-on-year.

The figures included more than 150 bomb threats against Jewish community institutions by an Israeli-American teenager during the first half of the year.

Why there is a significant increase: While the ADL said part of the increase could be pegged to an increase in reporting of incidents at schools, other groups have pointed to rising right-wing extremism.

What is anti-Semitism: According to the ADL, anti-Semitism is "the belief or behavior hostile towards Jews just because they are Jewish."

"It may take the form of religious teachings that proclaim the inferiority of Jews, for instance, or political efforts to isolate, oppress or otherwise injure them."

How the Nazis promoted anti-Semitism through film

Hitler's favorite director

Leni Riefenstahl was among the Nazi filmmakers who tried to redeem their reputations after 1945. She was responsible for filming the Nazi party's massive rallies and was an integral part of the propaganda machine. Anti-Semitism was inseparable from the party's ideology.

How the Nazis promoted anti-Semitism through film

Retelling history with anti-Semitic twist

"Jud Süss," one of the Nazis' most famous propaganda films, which is restricted today, was directed by Viet Harlan in 1940. Harlan tells the historical tale of 18th-century German-Jewish banker Joseph Süss Oppenheimer and places it in the context of anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda. "Jud Süss" was seen by millions of Germans when it was first released.

How the Nazis promoted anti-Semitism through film

Mixing anti-Semitism with 'art'

In Harlan's film, anti-Semitic prejudices are underlined by the plot and the way the characters are portrayed. The writer Ralph Giordano said, "Jud Süss" was the "most mean-spirited, cruel and refined form of 'artistic anti-Semitism.'" Michael Töteberg wrote, "The film openly mobilizes sexual fears and aggression and instrumentalizes them for anti-Semitic incitement."

How the Nazis promoted anti-Semitism through film

'The devil's director'

His biographer once called Veit Harlan "the devil's director," due to his unabashed service to Nazi ideology. Harlan had "qualified" himself to make "Jud Süss" after making his own films with anti-Semitic tendencies in the 1930s. After 1945, the director was able to continue working after going on trial and serving a temporary occupational ban.

How the Nazis promoted anti-Semitism through film

Dealing with propaganda films - in film

Much was written and said about Viet Harlan and his anti-Semitic film "Jud Süss" after the war. At least one response to Harlan's work was uttered in film form. Director Oskar Roehler dealt with the origin and effect of the propaganda film in his melodramatic, controversial film "Jud Suss: Rise and Fall" (2010).

How the Nazis promoted anti-Semitism through film

Joseph Goebbels pulled the strings

The Nazis were quick to recognize that cinema could have a powerful effect in swaying the people. Joseph Goebbels and his Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda used the medium to promote their ideologies, including anti-Semitism. Besides feature films like "Jud Süss," cultural and educational films were also made.

How the Nazis promoted anti-Semitism through film

A so-called documentary

Another Nazi-made anti-Semitic film was "The Eternal Jew," released just a few months after "Jud Süss" in 1940. The film, made by Fritz Hippler, shows well-known Jewish artists, scenes from the Warsaw Ghetto and images of Jewish religious practices, combining them in a deceitful manner with excerpts from Hitler's speeches and SS marches. The propaganda work was billed as a documentary.

How the Nazis promoted anti-Semitism through film

Devil in the details

Most of the propaganda films the Nazis made between 1933 and 1945 used smaller doses of anti-Semitism and were not as overt as "Jud Süss." Some films were even toned down during production. The historical film "Bismarck" (1940) was originally planned as a much more aggressive anti-Semitic propaganda film.

How the Nazis promoted anti-Semitism through film

Anti-Semitism from the perspective of Charlie Chaplin

During the war, Hollywood produced a number of anti-Nazi films that condemned anti-Semitism. Charlie Chaplin humorously portrayed Hitler in "The Great Dictator" in 1940. After the war, Chaplin said he would have acted differently, had he been aware of the extent of the Nazis' extermination policy against the Jews.